Georgia Primary Voters Plagued By Long Lines, Broken Machines

TOPLINE

Georgia primary voters bore long lines and broken machines during the state’s primary on Tuesday, prompting concerns about voter suppression as polling centers grappled with new equipment and health procedures designed to prevent coronavirus spread.

KEY FACTS

Crucial quote

“The touch pads aren’t receiving or accepting the authorizations, and we are out of provisional ballots. There’s nothing we can do,” Precinct Manager Jonathan Banes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the polling center’s troubles with the voting equipment. 

Big number

Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, told the New York Times she had 84 text messages reporting voting issues within 10 minutes of the polls opening at 7 a.m.

Surprising fact

More than 1 million Georgia voters cast ballots before Tuesday, most of them by mail, after the state sent absentee ballot applications to all active voters.

Chief critic

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) called the delays to Georgia’s primary Tuesday “voter suppression.”

Tangent

Many states postponed their primaries due to the coronavirus outbreak. Since then, a partisan battle has exploded over mail-in voting. President Trump has been vehemently opposed to the idea, suggesting that the move could lead to fraud, without providing evidence. On May 26, he tweeted that there is “NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent,” and definitively declared that “This will be a Rigged Election.” 

Key background 

The states that have held in-person primaries since the outbreak began, have struggled to prevent delays. In April, Wisconsin became the first state to hold an in-person election since the outbreak began in the U.S. and voters faced extremely long lines and delays. Until hours before the election, it was unclear whether the primary would even happen — the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, attempted to push back the date of the primary to June but was blocked by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Further reading

In Georgia, primary day starts with long lines, broken machines — a potential preview of November (Washington Post)

Voters struggle with lines and equipment as polls open in Georgia (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Major Problems With Voting in Atlanta as 5 States Hold Primaries (New York Times)

New voting machines cause lines and problems on Georgia election day (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)